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When Things Don’t Go Your Way: Zen Wisdom for Difficult Times

Haemin Sunim

What if moments of great difficulty are, in fact, opportunities for growth and selfdiscovery? What if they can serve as stepping stones? Modern life doesn’t always go our way. Loss, rejection, uncertainty and loneliness are unavoidable parts of human experience – but there is solace to be found.

In When Things Don’t Go Your Way, Zen Buddhist teacher Haemin Sunim provides simple but powerful wisdom for navigating life’s challenges. Through his trademark combination of beautiful illustrations, insightful stories, and contemplative aphorisms, Sunim helps us reframe our mindsets and develop emotional agility.

Whether you’re in the midst of a crisis or simply seeking to improve your mental and emotional wellbeing, this is a soothing balm that helps us all find courage and comfort.

House of Lilies: The Dynasty that Made Medieval France

Justine Firnhaber-Baker

The sweeping story of one of the great epics of Europe’s history: the rise and rise of the dynasty that dominated the Middle Ages

Starting in the tenth century from an insecure foothold around Paris, the Capetians built a nation that stretched from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean, the Rhône to the Pyrenees. They founded practices and institutions that transformed Paris from a muddy backwater to a splendid metropole, and popularised the fleur-de-lys, the lily, as the emblem of France.

This is the story of of religious upheaval, heroism, adulterous affairs, holy wars, pogroms and persecution. From Hugh Capet to Eleanor of Aquitaine, the Capetians were men and women of vision and ambition, who considered themselves chosen by God to fulfil a great destiny.